


Catching His Scent

by rhodrymavelyne



Category: Hannibal (TV)
Genre: F/M, Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-05
Updated: 2019-12-05
Packaged: 2021-02-26 00:40:17
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 678
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21684643
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rhodrymavelyne/pseuds/rhodrymavelyne
Summary: On first meeting Jack Crawford, Hannibal Lecter catches a specific, alluring scent, one he first detected lingering on Alana Bloom, after a surprise visit from her and a reluctance to discuss whatever…or whomever…was bothering her.
Relationships: Alana Bloom/Will Graham, Hannibal Lecter/Alana Bloom, Hannibal Lecter/Jack Crawford, Hannibal Lecter/Will Graham, Jack Crawford/Will Graham
Comments: 4
Kudos: 48





	Catching His Scent

**Author's Note:**

> All these pairings are Will Graham’s fault, for his scent brings them all together as far as Hannibal is concerned, giving a little of his allure to each of the people in contact with him. (wry grin) I first got this idea when I realized I couldn’t have Alana Bloom talk about Will Graham to Hannibal Lecter in the time before the series began since in the canon, she never mentioned him. What if Hannibal caught Will’s scent from Alana after she’d met him? What if he recognized that scent on Jack when they first met? This takes place during the pilot, with a flashback to before the pilot. I don’t own Hannibal but for the past several months, it has owned me. :)

Not only did Jack Crawford carry himself with a certain cultivated awareness which revealed very little of itself, he carried a particular scent on his skin. Hot, almost spicy mingled with a delicate sweetness, layering over a wild, moist darkness. Hannibal could almost sense the wild things lingering in the darkness; crawling through the jungle with a disturbing, eerie beauty. 

This aroma didn’t belong to the FBI agent before him. Jack Crawford may well have ventured into that darkness, given the nature of his work, but he didn’t live there. He hadn’t breathed in its environment, been shaped and molded by it while struggling to escape from it. Hannibal could smell the freshness of a desperate innocence, caught within the darkness, beating its wings against it. A mature and sophisticated man such as Jack Crawford had moved beyond such futile struggles. No, this belonged to someone much younger. Someone who hadn’t quite accepted or come to terms with himself. 

The scent would have intrigued Hannibal Lecter even if he hadn’t recalled its aroma before. It had clung to the arms and hair of Alana Bloom when she entered his office. 

She’d dropped by unexpectedly, carrying that scent on her skin. Whatever she’d brushed against, it had left a mark upon her. There were shadows under his former student’s eyes, compressed worry wrinkling the corners of her compressed smile. 

“Do you have a beer?” She’d asked the usual question, trying to pretend all was well. Trying to pretend something…or someone…hadn’t just shaken her to the core. 

Hannibal didn’t ask what it was. He got her a beer. He sat next to her on the couch and waited. 

“Have you ever read old tales of chivalry, Hannibal?” She gazed at the glass in front in front of her, staring at the golden liquid within. “All these descriptions of pure, unsullied maidens in desperate need of protecting from the wickedness of the world?”

“A few.” Hannibal offered a half-smile to his former student. “Almost as many as I have of monster women, who dared to be something that didn’t require protecting.” 

He thought the reference to the old double-standard Alana had learned to mock might crack a smile out of her. Instead her expression grew more pensive. 

“I thought all this talk of innocence in need of protection was nonsense, nothing more than an idealized projection of what a knight wanted to see.” Alana slumped in her seat, allowing the beer to slosh.

“It is.” Hannibal breathed in her scent, mingled with that alluring foreign one. “That doesn’t mean it isn’t there. The knight created that innocence with his own hopes and wishes.”

“Am I creating it?” Alana drew in a deep, shaky breath. “I can see the innocence within the damage, shining through the darkness. Only the darkness will consume that innocence, if I don’t get my sword out and fight off anyone who might threaten it. Or whatever literal tool I can use instead of a sword.” The young woman shuddered, only to shake her head and chuckle. “Ignore me, Hannibal. You caught me in a poetic moment.”

“A very eloquent poetic moment.” Hannibal smiled back at her. “You should have more of them.”

He waited for her to say more, to tell him about this innocence which had Dr. Alana Bloom stirred up, thinking of tales of chivalry, and wanting to grab a sword to defend it. He was certain this innocence belonged the source of the scent clinging to her. 

Alana, however, didn’t say anything more about it. She smiled, shook out her hair, and started talking about something else. 

Now here was that intriguing aroma again, clinging to a man who’d come to him at Alana’s request. Hannibal had a feeling he was going to find out exactly what the source of that scent was. 

“I need your help with a psychological profile.” Jack Crawford turned to face him, looking him straight in the eye. 

It was all Hannibal could do to keep himself from smiling. Yes, he was definitely going to find out.

**Author's Note:**

> The line "I need your help with a psychological profile" is from the Hannibal pilot.


End file.
